This Week in Motorsports: October 19 – 25, 2026
NCS/NOAPS/NCTS: Talladega Superspeedway – October 23-25
PLANO, Texas (October 21, 2026) – The final superspeedway race of the season at Talladega could prove critical in tight championship battles across NASCAR’s top three divisions.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NOAPS/NCTS
Toyota earns first Cup manufacturers’ championship since 2019… With Tyler Reddick’s sixth win of the season at Phoenix Raceway, Toyota has clinched the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturers’ Championship. It is Toyota’s first title since 2019 and fourth overall.
Toyota’s 18 wins put it one shy of matching its single-season record of 19, set back in 2019.
Another milestone possible – 700 wins… With two wins this past weekend, Toyota currently sits at 698 NASCAR national series victories and looks to hit the milestone 700 this weekend. Since first debuting in the NASCAR national series ranks in 2004, Toyota has amassed 221 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, 221 in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and 256 in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
Reddick plans to add to series-leading win total… Tyler Reddick continued his stellar season with his series-leading sixth win of the year last weekend. Reddick charged from sixth to first on the final restart to claim his first victory at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. Reddick heads to Talladega a former winner (April 2024), and off a year where he has simply been stellar on superspeedway style tracks, including winning the Daytona 500 in February. With five combined starts at Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega this year, Reddick has two wins, three top-fives and four top-10s, with a worst finish of 14th. Since joining 23XI Racing in 2023, Reddick has completed every lap at Talladega with all seven finishes inside the top-20.
Briscoe looks for second straight fall Talladega win… Chase Briscoe continued his performance surge this past weekend at Phoenix, as he earned his fourth straight top-10 finish to now sit just 24 points out of the lead. Briscoe is the reigning race winner as he took the lead from fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace on the final lap to clinch his Championship 4 berth last fall. It was Briscoe’s first Cup Series superspeedway win.
Team Toyota battles for points lead… The championship picture continues to be tight in the NASCAR Cup Series with Christopher Bell only five points out of the lead. Briscoe (-24 points), Denny Hamlin (-31) and Reddick (-56) are all within one race heading into Talladega.
Crews plans to be one-spot better at Talladega… Brent Crews continues to look for his first NASCAR victory and Talladega might be the place for it. In his superspeedway debut, the 18-year-old was impressive, driving through the field to finish second at Talladega earlier this year. The runner-up result was one of 11 top-five finishes this year for the Toyota Development Driver – tied for third amongst all drivers.
Honeycutt looks to add another first… Kaden Honeycutt and his team delivered at Phoenix, earning his first win at the mile oval and helping the Texan expand his Truck Series points lead to 39 markers heading into Talladega. A first superspeedway win would go a long way to helping Honeycutt secure the championship. The Toyota Development Driver finished eighth in Daytona in February, and finished top-10 in his Toyota debut at Talladega last fall.
Champions running Tundras at Dega… Corey Heim will return to the Truck Series at Talladega, piloting the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for TRICON. Heim, the reigning Truck Series champion, has been impressive in his recent Cup Series starts – including finishing fifth at Phoenix on Sunday. Despite all of his on-track success in Trucks, Heim is looking for his first Talladega win, with the runner-up result he scored one year ago being his best finish there thus far. His teammate in the No. 5 TRICON Tundra will be Thomas Annunziata, who won the ARCA title last month in thrilling fashion at Kansas Speedway.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs approximately 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 36 million cars and trucks at our 11 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
